Return Of The Exiled

Prologue

Prologue

"Legend tells of a young maiden who saved her village, agreed to be the sacrifice, and married the jungle beast, who preyed on the people at night.

The beast had one rule; no lights are to be lit when the sun goes down.

Years would go by, and the girl fell in love with the beast because he treated her kindly and she was not eaten for dinner as she thought she would have been on the first night.

Longing for her sister and father, she convinced the beast finally, to allow her to return home where she rejoiced knowing that they were no longer poor and her sister, now grown, was betrothed to the prince of the land. The neighbours allwelcomed her back and even the king of the land made her a 'Lady', for her heroism.

Weeks would go by, and the maiden would return to the cave where she now dwells, but her sister's words circulated in her mind. She must see what the beast looks like in the dark. What could he be hiding every night when he goes off to his side of the cave, that he did not want her to see?

So, she lit the candle given to her by her sister and walked off in the direction the ugly beast always disappeared in. Only there was no beast. A handsome young man lay on the bed. The luxury of the small room did not capture her attention as it should have- after all, it was in a cave they resided in.

Peering close, she leaned over the bed and the man's eyes flew open. The hot wax had fallen on his delicate skin, burning him.

"You had to, didn't you!" He screamed at her as the frightened girl fell back dropping the candle. "One more year, just one and I would have been free!"

Howling, he changed back into the beast, only this time he grew larger and uglier, his long claws swiping forward and opening her throat."

"Honestly Benita, it's such a hateful story," the grandmother said to the girl she was tucking in, and the little girl smiled. Her pink fairy and flowers pattern pajama was completely hidden under the thick blanket, that her grandmother had hand-stitched for her, using her mother's and father's old t-shirts from when they themselves were little.

"Nan, it's one to remind me that I must always be content," the smart girl comes back with, stretching up and kissing the old, slightly wrinkled face.

The grandmother shook her head, leaving the little girl in the semi-darkness, and going downstairs to her young son who was pacing the floor. Her granddaughter's father.

"She isn't answering her phone mum, something's wrong." He was talking about the little girl's mother. His wife. She had been missing for three days now.

"Shh, are you trying to get your daughter panicked as well?" His mother cautioned with a stern expression on her face. She has had it with her son and his wife. Every month or so, it's always something. She was so done with pretending that her husband and her did not know the kind of life their once perfect son now led.

"They got her ma, they got her." The agitated man sat down on the couch, hands in his hair as he raked them through his short hair then getting up again and pacing once more. Too young to look this old, the sunken eyes and hallowed cheeks man, vowing that this was the last time he would gamble. But even he knew it was a lie just to console himself with at the moment.

Car lights have him ducking behind the medium-sized table that shone through the windows. His mother grimaced. Their son knew the sound of his father's old van, but he seemed high at the moment. The woman did not know what to do about him, knowing her husband would be even more depressed when he saw Jason this way- even though he knew.

"Your father is coming in, shh, I said I don't want him getting involved with these people Jason."

Jason's is a mess. His face was etched with worry and fear. His hair was unkept and his white T-shirt and jeans were muddied. His fingernails chewed so low that they bled. His cell phone lay on the ground where he dropped it when he ran his fingers through his hair minutes before.

His mother is in her evening clothing still. She warned Jason to not get involved with Sylvie in the first place. She could have predicted this happening ten years ago, but she still hoped that they would live their life in peace- after all, people could change with growth. She, like her husband, hoped that Sylvie could see how much she was welcomed into their home and adapt to love.

Peace. Calm. Hot meals. Things she never got from her own parents.

But Sylvie only disrupted their happy lives and corrupted Jason.

They could not do anything drastic like putting her out, for that would mean their son would go too. And then Sylvie being pregnant, they had the baby to think about.

Sylvie gambled away Jason's little savings and even took to borrowing money from the wrong people to gamble and when she could not pay, Grace and Anton had to foot the debts. This time it was too much. Twenty thousand is ridiculous.

That would be taking from their granddaughter's savings, and they would never touch that. Anton would never forgive her if she touched even a dollar.

Jason's mother was heartbroken and heavy-hearted. But he was on his own this time.